The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-07-04
DREsS FFFORNT,
What Annie Jenness Miller is Doing in
It's Behalf

one OF the prettiest houses in East Orange
is that occupied by Mrs. Annie Jenness Mil
Ter, known for her advocacy of hygienic
dress for women. Shades of Amelia
Boomer, The first dress reformers were
pluclly hut luckless Could anybody asso-
ciate Mrs. Rloomer with a Queen Anne cot
tage and green rolling lawn2 Could any
body imagine her i'll such a study as | found
Mrs Miller in yesterday, polished floor rug
strewn, dehcately tinted walls hung with
etchi1gS and rare engraVings, portiereS in
odd but artistic color combinations and sum
mer curtains blowing in the wind9 Does
one usually picture Amelia Boomer as
boarding her spare dollars for quaint and
curious bric-a-brac and taking pride in her
dining room with its dainty table ware! |
trow not. And yet could anybody influence in
the smallest degree the dress of the American
woman who did not like beautiful things as
well as the American woman or even a
little better because with a finer apprecia-
ton than she2
Mrs. Boomer was heroine, a greater
than Mrs. Miller to me, but she was not the
kind of heroine that succeeds. Mrs Miller
will go no faster than the average woman
can follow her. Instead of presenting re-
form in the guise of a duty that one must be
martyred by the laughter of ones kind in
doing, she appeals to every woman's innate
wish to be more attractive than she is"
don't know that should have supposed
myself talking to reformed" woman as
sat opposite Mrs Miller In her simple
house gown of some soft yellow-tan material
that fell in long graceful lines from neck to
heel, gathered at the waist line bv the folds
of red silk girdle and relieved by slightly
pulled sleev.s with long cuffs at the wrists,
she looked to me more like one of the beau
ties of the Directory with sense enough to
not to abbreviate her waist to an unbecoming
extent A modified and modest gown of the
period of the Consulate was whats she seemed
to be wearing, and it would be hard to find
anywhere a prettier or more sensible attire
than that is capable of being.
Mrs Millers wardrobe indeed amply illus
trates the possibility of putting on nothing
that is inconsistent with health, and at the
same time of being in no way conspicuous
in ordinary society except in so far as we'll
dressed woman is always conspicuous and
usually rejoices in being conspicuous among
her kind The tea gown has risen in
good season to assist her. Now that
a dress has been accepted for after
noon occasions which permits a
woman to clasp her hands behind her
hair, the further changes which Mrs Miller
has adopted to fit loose gown for morning,
evening and the street as well, are made with
comparative ease.
A navy blue surah silk is made, like all her
dresses, in one piece the draperies being
hung on the foundations, alike in every case,
of simple princess gown form. 1t has
full, soft Greek front, something after the
style of the fedora, but in even longer lines
and giving a more graceful sweep The
back is fitted closely like basque, but the
full Craperies are shirred on to it, taking
the weight off the waist and keeping the
bodice smooth and in place. The sleeves are
fulled enough to get rid of the baroness of
plain coat sleeve, and beaded collar sup
plies the garniture. Neither corset nor hustle
is worn with such gown, which follows
the natural lines of the figure and would
satisfy an artists eye.
white silk lace dress for summer wear
has the gown form of white silk rhadzimir
with low neck and short sleeves Upon this
the lace is draped in full folds across the
front of the skirt, and with it is worn little
lace jacket with full fancy sleeves. Another
summer dress of black llama lace and surah
has an entirely different though equally eff
fective arrangement of the drapery in long,
simple lines. A velvet gown is rich with
brocade of mauve and black, and an expert
ment in foulard for July and August has
full neck and puffed sleeves of white lace
and full draperieS, never cut off at the waist
nor chopping woman into three sections
after the usual basque, overdress and skirt
plan.
For Office wear, and as a suggestion to the
business woman, Mrs. Miller attires herself
in blue and gray basket cloth mixture,
made with deep yoke of dark blue velvet
about the throat, side pieces of the bodice
drawn toward the front in plaits support
ing the form, basque back and draperies
gathered on behind. A plain walking dress
of dark wool goods in an olive mixture
with touch of gold in it has fedora bod
ice front Of plaided surah and is made short
enough to clear any sort of underfoot
weather, high boots made for the purpose of
going with it out of DOORS
The principles of her dress system, so far
as it is complex enough to be called a sys-
TEN, carry nothing with them which good
conservative cannot approve. Taking it for
granted, in the first place, that woman's
body is not to be improved upon by tortur-
ing it with that engine of bones and steels,
the corset, nor yet by piling mountain of
humps in the shape of hustle springs upon
its back, she tries to clothe it in a natural,
healthful way, that shall at the same time
be more artistically satisfactory than any
thing that woman has worn before. If
she would not coin such a barbarous word
as 'leglettes" for the divided skirt worn be-
meath the gown that garment would be a
more than satisfactory substitute for the
petticoat, with the additional advantage to
that conservative creature, a woman, that
nODOuy WOULD ever know you mad IL on.
For the gowns themselves, most of them are
of delightfully."- light weight, compared with
the conventional costume, and all of them
dispense with the close-fitting biased waist
which neceSsitates the corset to keep it
smooth. For the rest there is as much va
riety in them as to the usual wardrobe, and
they are much prettier for a good figure, and
no worse for a poor one. Mrs. Miller has
been wise enough In her day and generation
to turn her attention first to dresses that
would attract women of leisure, leaders of
women, and her dresses for the reception
room are better worked out than those for
counting room, schoolroom street. But
all in good time. She has an idea of a GER
tainty and the working of it out can be left
safely to time. In two years, | venture to
prophesy, she will use less trimming and
produce better results Her cardinal princi
pies are long Greek lines like those that
make Mary Anderson's draperies more
graceful than those of any other actress on
the stage, the use of materials that are pic
turesque in themselves, and attention to
sleeves. Isuppose she is looking at her ven
ture more or less from the business point Of
view, but it is high time that somebody
tried to make business of teaching women
TO reform in the only way that in this cen
fury is practicable, not by trying to scold
them out of corsets, for no woman ever
changed a button or pin of attire for scold-
ing, but by showing them something that
they can't help acknowledging. is prettier